Theme of Love
by It's The Fear
Summary: FFIV Cecil goes off to prove himself worthy enough to one day lead the Red Wings of Baron, leaving two of the three lifelong friends behind. In his absence, Kain and Rosa learn to take comfort in each other, something neither one of them saw coming.


I'm pretty sure this is my first Final Fantasy fanfiction that I've ever written, so sit tight, everybody! It's never crossed my mind to write one (I mainly stick to RE fanfiction), but I'm completely and totally in love with Final Fantasy IV, and so I had to give it a try.

I'm a huge Kain fangirl, so I decided to take a chance and write a Kain/Rosa story. I hope everyone likes it. Please, remember to leave a review and let me know what you think about it.

Thanks everyone!

* * *

"Cecil, why do you have to leave for so long?" Rosa sat at the foot of his bed; her hands folded together in the lap of her dress. She watched him put on the last remaining pieces of his pitch black armor, her blue eyes heavy with sadness.

On the opposite side of Cecil's bedroom, Kain leaned silently against the cold brick wall. His arms were crossed over his chest as his dark eyes moved back and forth between Rosa and the man he thought of as his own brother.

Cecil bent down to pick up his helmet and turned to face both of his oldest friends. He saw the indifference in Kain's eyes, which was no different than any other day. But he saw nothing but worry and fear in Rosa's, which for some reason seemed to bother him. He flashed her a quick smile of confidence, holding his helmet under his arm as he walked over to her.

"You know this isn't my choice. If I want to be leader of the Red Wings one day, which I do, I have to do this."

"This whole thing is stupid. I don't know why you have to prove yourself to the King. Haven't you done enough of that your entire life?"

Cecil glanced towards Kain and let out a heavy sigh. This was something that she just wouldn't understand. "I'll be back in a few months, Rosa. Try not to worry about it too much while I'm gone, okay?"

Rosa stood up from the soft mattress and stared into Cecil's eyes. The sadness he had seen in her moments ago had faded and turned into anger. Her hands turned into fists by her side.

"Fine, Cecil. I hope you have a fun time gallivanting around for the next couple of months. Please, don't let my worry for your safety get in the way of you having a good time out there."

Cecil opened his mouth to speak but Rosa stormed off before he could get a single word out. Defeated, his eyes fell to Kain who was still leaning up against the wall, a thin smile on his face.

Cecil scratched the back of his neck and let out a hearty sigh when his bedroom door slammed shut behind Rosa. "Gallivanting? She thinks I'm going to be gallivanting when I'm gone? That girl's insane."

Kain shrugged. "She just doesn't want anything to happen to you, that's all. Neither of us do."

"I know, but it's not like I have a choice in this. I want to lead the Red Wings one day, and the King has actually given me the opportunity to prove myself as worthy enough for the position. If I didn't try and do this, I don't think I could ever live with myself."

"You're going to be gone for months?" Kain's voice was cold and steady as he spoke. There was no emotion in the words that came out of his mouth to let Cecil know he would be missed in his absence. He hadn't realized it was going to be such a long quest until Cecil had mentioned it.

Cecil nodded and shifted his weight. "I should be, yeah. The cave the creature is in is supposed to be enormous. It should be quite the exciting journey."

Kain pushed himself off the wall and stared into Cecil's eyes. His arms dropped to his side as he stood there in silence for a moment. He pushed the jealousy he felt towards his best friend to the back of his mind. "I don't care how long you're going to be gone for. Quite frankly, all I care about is that you come back in one piece."

Kain turned his back on Cecil and made his way to the closed wooden door. Kain was never the type of person who was open about his feelings, and he sure as hell didn't like having to deal with other's emotions. So before it got too sentimental between the two young men, Kain decided it would be best to leave Cecil to finish preparing himself to take leave from Baron.

As Kain pulled it the bedroom door open, a low voice from behind him made him stop and glance back at Cecil.

"Do me a favor, Kain. Take care of Rosa while I'm gone, okay?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It simply wasn't fair. Between the two of them, Cecil always seemed to get whatever he wanted. The King had favored him since they were children, even though he had raised both Cecil and Kain as his own sons. And now, here they were in their teens, and Cecil was already off to prove himself to be worthy enough to be called leader of the Red Wings. Not that he would get that position anytime soon, even if he did manage to slay the creature. But still, it was better than what Kain was doing with his life.

_Yeah, my lousy, poor excuse for a life._

A groan of frustration slipped through Kain's lips when he heard commotion coming from his open window. Shoving himself off his bed, Kain made his way to the wide window and leaned against the windowsill below.

Cecil, with a knight on each side, was walking through Baron and heading for the entrance of the town. Villagers surrounded him as he made his way out of town, cheering and wishing him luck on his journey while others prayed for his safe return.

Kain's eyes scanned the crowd, searching for Rosa, but couldn't find her anywhere. He was surprised she wasn't by Cecil's side. With the way she was always so flustered when it came to Cecil, Kain thought she would have been with him until his final step in Baron.

When he heard his bedroom door creak open, Kain glanced back and saw the small blonde girl enter, closing the door silently behind her. He saw moist stains on her cheeks from where her tears had fallen as she approached.

He said nothing as she stood beside him, her eyes trailing out the window to watch Cecil approach the entrance of Baron with his knights by his side.

"Why aren't you down there by his side?" Kain hadn't intended it to come out as harsh and spiteful as it had. But once the words were out, there was nothing he could do to take them back.

Rosa shrugged, sniffling. "I didn't think I could say goodbye to him. And I definitely didn't want everyone to see me as such a mess."

Kain gave her a once over and flashed her a crooked smile. "Well, you _do _look like quite a mess…"

Rosa scoffed and playfully punched his arm. "Oh, shut up, Kain."

"Seriously though, Rosa. He'll be fine. He's not a baby; you shouldn't treat him like one." Kain turned his body so he faced Rosa instead of his best friend's back as he left the town. "He's one of the strongest men in all of Baron. Well, besides me, of course."

Rosa brushed her tears away from her eyes and nodded as she spoke in a low whisper. "I know." Rosa turned to face Kain, looking up at his with wide, tear filled eyes. "Every time you guys leave Baron I always worry. I just don't want you to leave and never come back. I don't want that to happen to you like it did to my parents."

Kain let out a sigh that was nearly silent. He reached out for Rosa and was surprised when she threw herself in his steady arms. She sobbed into his chest and all he could do was hold her there, comforting her the best he could.

The way she felt in his arms, how right it felt to hold her, took Kain by shock. Growing up around her, he had noticed when she began to grow into her body and slowly become a young woman. And he had definitely noticed that she was only getting better looking as the years passed by. But he had never thought about her in the way that he did in that particular moment.

Her body fit perfectly against his, her soft, slender frame against his hard muscles that ached for contact. Ignoring the thoughts that clouded his mind, Kain shook his head and finally brought himself to speak.

"Don't worry about him, Rosa. Cecil will be fine. He'll be back before you know it." _And until then, I'll be here for you._


End file.
